Hello friends! Its officially winter here in Michigan! Snow and winds and cold temperatures, but warm hearts and a spirit of joy! 

Nothing quite warms the tummy like fresh baked chocolate chip cookies! I’m sharing a recipe with just a little tweak on the ingredients to place a decadent crown on a delicious classic! Maybe its been awhile since you baked cookies, but its not hard at all, I promise! You can do it! We’ll do it together!

But before we get started, I want to thank my photographer Maribeth Schmidt. She is an amazing talent, and she is so busy this time of year, and I dearly appreciate the help she has been in providing incredible photos! If you would like to see make an inquiry, you  can contact her at Maribeth Schmidt Photography. And now, lets begin!

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks of butter or margarine (softened- could also use one of each)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 small box (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix (could also sub instant butterscotch pudding)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups Nestle semi sweet chocolate chips
• Optional- 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 375°.

Combine flour, baking soda and pudding mix in bowl. Set aside.

In large bowl, add the butter/margarine, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla and eggs.

Beat until creamy.

Gradually add in your flour mixture, mixing as you go to incorporate it all together.

(Dough will be rather thick).

Add in chocolate chips (and nuts if desired)

With a sturdy spoon, fold the chocolate chips and nuts into the batter.

Drop by rounded Tablespoons on your cookie sheet. Place a few inches apart as the cookies will spread while baking.

I fit about 12 on a cookie sheet. (you can see I need a few new cookie sheets!)

Bake for about 9 minutes or until the edges just start to turn a nice golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool maybe 2 minutes, then I put mine on wax paper to continue cooling.

Hey… there seems to be a cookie missing! Oh yes, that was for research purposes!

Now put them on a nice plate… start the coffee… get a tall glass of milk.

And call the troops! (they were probably already there once they smelled that heavenly smell!)

You could try that line, “The cookies are for after dinner.” or you could simply make the cookies your dinner! (ok, maybe that’s not the best idea… how about an appetizer?)

So where did these little sugar blessings come from? Well, it was by accident (as most great things happen)

Ruth Graves Wakefield was a well respected dietitian and cook, and in 1930, she and her husband purchased an Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts. The Toll House Inn. Ruth was a fantastic hostess and baker, and she had received a gift of a semi sweet chocolate bar from Andrew Nestle.  One day as she was baking, she realized she was out of bakers chocolate, so she substituted with the semi sweet chocolate from Nestle. She cut it into small pieces and added to her recipe. However, she noticed that it did not blend into the batter after baking. It simply softened! And voila! The rest is history! They called it the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie and served it at their inn. And boy was it a hit! Ruth sold the recipe to Andrew Nestle, and he in turn provided her with a lifetime supply of chocolate! And they keep the original “Toll House” recipe on the back of every bag of Nestle chocolate chips!

I checked several surveys and they all placed the chocolate chip cookie as the #1 most loved cookie!

So stack ’em tall and enjoy! This recipe we are using today is very close to that, but not identical… its the pudding that is different.

What is it about the pudding that makes these any better? Well, the pudding is like your secret 1-2 punch! It kicks the flavor up to mega decadent and rich… BAM! And… It really helps to keep the cookies soft… KAPOW!

Going with the heavier emphasis on the brown sugar also gives it a richer flavor.

America’s number one cookie! But it didn’t start there…  presented with a roadblock, Ruth Wakefield navigated around that roadblock with plan B, and something amazing happened! Such a great life lesson in that!

When things seem to be going wrong, we just might find something amazing in the outcome if we can keep our chin up and persevere forward! In the 1930’s, times were tough, and yet people banded together to help one another, and they still found life rewarding and full! My mom tells me how at Christmas, they wouldn’t get their tree up until Christmas Eve (they woke up to the tree all decorated) and the treat was that each of the kids received an orange! They would sing Christmas carols and gather with family for pie and coffee. And their hearts were full of joy! Yes, if you looked at their situations, they were not great financially but they made the best of it! There is a great survival skill in that for when we reach our own roadblocks! We keep our chin up and shoulders back and use our wits and a positive attitude and move forward! It may be a little different path than our original plan, but maybe just maybe the outcome will be greater than we ever dreamed possible!

I hope you have a fantastic week!

I’ll be back Friday for another Fashion Friday!

Love Always,

Amy

“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.”  ~Zig Ziglar